Magic system info

The enemy lurks in shadows
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Socniver
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2021 4:16 am

There is a consensus on this forum that wizards are generally bad. I've spoke with the folks over at the Rat catcher's guild at discord to clarify some things, since I haven't been able to wrap my head around the rules. There are some well-hidden points in the rulebook that may or may not change your view. I want to share this since I couldn't find this information gathered in one place.

[*]Spells can crit.

[*]Spells can be overcast. This makes the dart a powerful tool, even with its 0 dmg. Each 2 points of SL above the target CN of the spell lets you choose between: an additional different target, bigger AOE, extended duration, extended range. With 4 SL you are able to hit 3 targets with one Dart.
So the basic dart gives you: +1 advantage on an unopposed test, resets advantage of your enemies, and deals quite a lot of damage for the effort.

[*]Each spell which hits your opponent grants you 1 advantage. This means that AOE spells, such as Blast give 1 advantage even if it hits multiple opponents. This also applies to Dart which hits multiple opponents. Generally, only one advantage per spell.

[*]Dispelling grants the winner +1 advantage, the loser loses all advantage.

[*]Channeling is a skill which is useless in battle on its own. However, on page 132, in a box, it reads:

Tests: If the Talent is tied to one or more Tests your
character can make, the affected Tests are listed here.
Talents tied to a Test come with an extra rule: For each
time you have taken the Talent, you gain +1 SL on any
successful use of the Skill tied to the Talent.


This means that Aethyric Attunement, used with the Channeling skill, lets you ramp up success levels quickly. An average mage with +3 Initiative Bonus is able to buy AA three times. This means that a good roll on channeling will let you gain a lot of SL.

[*] Arcane spells belong to the respective school of magic. This means that each Lore of Magic has access to all Arcane spells, and they gain the trait of that Lore. IE, a metal mage casting Blast will not only ignore the metal armour of all targets, he will also deal bonus damage equal to the armored place the spell hit. A fire mage will set his targets Ablaze, and gain +10 to channelling and casting on targets with Ablaze. A Heavens mage will Arc a cast Bolt to different targets, etc.

I also recommend you the unofficial WFRP4E FAQ, it has input from the devs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HGK ... uxl1exk5mv
cancadia
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2021 4:20 am

You forgot an important point, that makes Magic more powerfull :) Magic Missiles follows the normal Rules, that means that such a Missile enhances the Damage for each SL you make on a Casting-Test. After this, you can seperatly use all your SL's for the Rules of Overcasting.

And i think, Wizards are to powerfull, if you ask me. If they got the Talent "Warwizard", the Enemys will not have much fun. Each Round they can cast a Bolt or Blast and make another Test like a Hit with a Sword, or a Ranged Weapon. So they can easily get 2 Advantages on their own turn. And if they are advanced enough, Channeling is not much needed :/

But it's a great List you made :)
SigmariteOrWrong
Posts: 44
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2020 5:55 am

Lets not forget Malign Influences! on p236

When attempting a Language (Magick) or Channelling Test in the vicinity of a Corrupting Influence, any roll of an 8 (representing the eight-pointed symbol of Chaos) on the units die results in a Minor Miscast as the Magic goes wild.

So Magick is a bit more dangerous fighting Skaven, Mutants, Demons, near Corrupted Grounds, Warpstone, or Gates.

I'd encourage GM's to come up with specific Miscast ideas for certain foes and areas to get some extra oomph into their stories.
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Orin J.
Posts: 514
Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2019 10:39 pm

don't forget that corruption includes insanity, so literally anything the caster might be phobic about or reasonably scared of or tormented by (everything for corpses and powerful foes to personal torments that might be things like cheese or small dogs) would also fall under that rule.
FitFitNitMin
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:49 am

Running The Horned Rat at the moment and the party's doktor has, in the past 3 weeks, been attacked by small but vicious dogs on two separate occasions (lots of encounters with Rat Catchers) and lost a fate point to the demon hound summoned by Bhar. No prizes for guessing what his phobia is going to be...
sx dwarf
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2019 11:36 pm

You pretty listed why wizards are too powerful in this edition.

I don't know if the Winds of Magic book will fix the magic system, but the setting deserve a more balanced and dangerous magic.
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Hyarion
Posts: 260
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 11:56 am

sx dwarf wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 5:38 pm You pretty listed why wizards are too powerful in this edition.

I don't know if the Winds of Magic book will fix the magic system, but the setting deserve a more balanced and dangerous magic.
Well said.
I hold the glaive of Law against the Earth.
FasterThanJesus
Posts: 342
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:30 pm
Location: UK

It definitely needs balancing. Certain talents and mechanics in combination make for overpowered cookie cutter builds and render other mechanics moot (channelling).

However, did any other edition of WFRP get it right off the bat?
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